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Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide

This guide was created as an overview of the Linux Operating System, geared toward new users as an exploration tour and getting started guide, with exercises at the end of each chapter.
For more advanced trainees it can be a desktop reference, and a collection of the base knowledge needed to proceed with system and network administration. This book contains many real life examples derived from the author's experience as a Linux system and network administrator, trainer and consultant. They hope these examples will help you to get a better understanding of the Linux system and that you feel encouraged to try out things on your own.

Hello slackers I have been looking into f2fs as a installation option cause, I am wanting to create a sorta portable workstation USB.
Does any one know if f2fs is in slackware 14.2 ? or if theirs a build script for the 14.2 branch their is one for 14.1.

Hello slackers I have been looking into f2fs as a installation option cause, I am wanting to create a sorta portable workstation USB.
Does any one know if f2fs is in slackware 14.2 ? or if theirs a build script for the 14.2 branch their is one for 14.1.

IF you want a sorta "portable workstation USB", I suggest you to install Slackware in an external hard drive, using the standard filesystems, i.e. EXT4FS.

Some of those thingies are quite small and any of them would be magnitude grades better to host an operating system.

For example, look in the attached image to a cheap Chinese "KingDian P10 Portable 120GB USB 3.0 To Type C External Solid State Drive SSD", which gives you 320MB/s read and 280MB/s write.

Of course, that will do over USB3, over USB2 you will got max 30MB/s for both read and write...

BTW, you can go even more cheap, with a small mSATA enclosure (see the second image) and some small mSATA hard drive, remained from a laptop ugrade.

Slackware does not include f2fs tools and I'm not sure if the tools are required to mount an f2fs partition (if you partitioned it on a different computer or with a different OS). If the tools are required, you'd need to build the package and install it to the installation environment before you'd be able to use it. It's also possible the installer has a specific list of partition types it will install to, so that could add more complexity to the installation process.

Another, possibly easier, option than Darth Vader's would be to use Slackware Live. It is an unofficial project by Eric Hameleer's who is one of the core Slackware team members (he also developed what eventually became Slackware64 back when Slackware was only 32bit, so he knows what he's doing ). With his iso2usb.sh script, it can write the contents of the Slackware Live iso to a USB device and optionally enable persistence (the ability for changes to persist between reboots), encryption, or install separate modules providing things like multilib, skype, or wine.

This will likely be much easier than doing a regular install to a USB drive as you'd need to worry about persistence with your devices (make sure the system can still boot if /dev/sda changes to /dev/sdb).

Thanks for the info on buying a external SSD vader the reason I looking into f2fs is cause i can't afford those sorta thing's at the moment.
I know of Alienbob's work and your right his contributions too Slackware are awesome i was doing my best to avoid live persistence but it looks like this might be my only option although i do have one more question is btrfs or zfs even an option using on a USB ?

I know of Alienbob's work and your right his contributions too Slackware are awesome i was doing my best to avoid live persistence but it looks like this might be my only option although i do have one more question is btrfs or zfs even an option using on a USB ?

You should be able to format the drive whatever format you want... but if you want to install Slackware using a non-normal filesystem, as long as the bootloader supports it and you load the correct modules into the initrd (or build them into the kernel), I'd imagine you're not limited on what filesystems you can use. But getting it set up would be extra work (especially zfs since it isn't included with Slackware).

Is there a reason you don't want to use Slackware Live with persistence?

You can upgrade Slackware Live. If you do it within the OS using slackpkg, it will take some extra space, but you can update it using Eric's iso2usb.sh script (using the -r or --refresh options) with a new ISO.

You can upgrade Slackware Live. If you do it within the OS using slackpkg, it will take some extra space, but you can update it using Eric's iso2usb.sh script (using the -r or --refresh options) with a new ISO.

Yep. Also, what those looking to install natively a Linux in a flash drive ignore in a gracious way, is that a live system read from flash the files in a compressed form, then the throughput is about 2-3 times higher than from a native filesystem.

WHEN the overall flash drive speed is about 6MB/s with some luck, that matter. Really matter.

Vader points the main reason i am trying to skip out on any Live persistence usage, Looking at blogs and benchmarks from phoronix made f2fs look like a great solution for a USB portable pendrive linux.
Bassmadrigal point's a very good point too is that alienbob's live slack is closely the sorta solution i am looking for, but I argue f2fs seems like a hidden gem of sorts it's either my noobie thinking or my idiosyncrasy making f2fs the next greatest thing since slice bread and this leaves me almost having to distro hop.
But i would like too thank you guys for your input !